A Colombian woman whose videos documenting ICE operations in California have garnered millions of views on TikTok was violently detained by the agency in a clip posted online.
Leidy Tatiana Mafla-Martinez, who posts under the TikTok handle @tatianamartinez_02, was livestreaming from her Tesla on Friday when masked ICE agents approached the vehicle, NBC News reported.
In a clip taken by a bystander and posted to social media, the agents can be seen yanking Mafla-Martinez out of her car as she screams and resists.
After bringing Mafla-Martinez to the ground, one of the agents flips her over to restrain her so that she is facedown on the pavement.
Other clips of the chaotic scene shared on social media show ambulances gathered near the site of Mafla-Martinez’s arrest, which left a downtown block in Los Angeles crowded with ambulances and police vehicles.
Adding to the chaos, a government police vehicle was towed while Mafla-Martinez was being arrested—leading one of the agents who dragged her out of the car to run after the car, yelling.
That agent could be seen pushing a man who appeared to be with Mafla-Martinez and taking a billy club out of his pocket, before he realized the police vehicle was being towed.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Newsweek that Mafla-Martinez reported shortness of breath during her arrest and was briefly hospitalized before being transferred to a detention facility.
Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin wrote in a statement to the Daily Beast that Mafla-Martinez was “a criminal illegal alien from Colombia who was convicted for driving under the influence in Los Angeles.” McLaughlin cited Mafla-Martinez’s conviction as reason for her arrest. The TikToker came to the United States in 2022.
You bet we did, @Newsweek.Leidy Tatiana Mafla-Martinez is a CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIEN from Colombia who was convicted for driving under the influence in Los Angeles. Martinez entered the country in 2022 and was RELEASED by the Biden administration.Under President Trump and… pic.twitter.com/cl82yI8Ixx
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) August 18, 2025
In an X post, the DHS celebrated Mafla-Martinez’s arrest, writing, “Under President Trump and @Sec_Noem, if you break the law, you will face the consequences.”
Mafla-Martinez has used her TikTok page to document ICE arrests around Los Angeles, recording videos in Spanish from the locations of several ICE raids around the city.
Just last week, she recorded a video documenting the aftermath of an ICE raid that took place just feet away from where Gov. Gavin Newsom was holding a press conference on redistricting.
According to her TikTok page, Mafla-Martinez began posting informational videos about ongoing ICE arrests in July, expressing solidarity with people who were detained and sharing advice with her viewers on what to do during an ICE stop.
As a result, Mafla-Martinez’s arrest was also celebrated by a wave of right-wing accounts on social media, several of which accused her of doxxing ICE agents.
ICE just arrested tiktok influencer and Colombian national Tatiana Martinez, who’s known for doxing ICE agents’ live locations on her tiktok account and is in our country illegallyThe ultimate FAFO pic.twitter.com/PPUUf4uAx6
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 17, 2025
One user on X with more than 125,000 followers posted the video of Mafla-Martinez’s arrest and wrote, “ICE finally got Tatiana Martinez, an illegal in LA who specialized in doxxing and harassing fed agents. Her shrieks are glorious.”
The post ICE Violently Arrests TikToker Who Criticized the Agency appeared first on The Daily Beast.
